The first time I ever made a twitter was to get a free meal. The second time I made a twitter was for my job. Now I have one for class! It is kind of peculiar that we are supposed to tweet in class when we used to do it in secret. I like that classmates are able to share their ideas with me as the average college classroom atmosphere can be quite reserved. I have not been using communication as optimally as I should. I think so far I've only communicated with my teacher and an artist that visited town. When I am on twitter, even though there are millions of users, I feel like I'm speaking into a really big box the size of the world with 6 people in it. I kind of like that, but I also feel a little shy.
The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to a computer and those who do not. There is a disparity among students because certain pertinent resources are not available to them. With the progression of time comes the progression of technology. Those who have readily available access have an easier time maneuvering a computer whereas those without must work a little harder, whether it be ease of use, or just getting to a place that has a computer. This may be caused by class differences and maybe because our foundation was built on institutionalized racism? As an educator, I'll do my best to bridge the gap by placing higher performing tech kids with lower performing tech kids. I could also provide students with more hands on activities. Like the podcast said, I should be sensitive to those who lack access when assigning work outside of school.
When teaching 2nd grade, I expect my students will learn how to use word, powerpoint, and lite photoshop skills. I don't think you can start them from augmenting reality too early. We wont be typing essays but we will learn to type through a software, because I type like I've never seen a keyboard before, we don't need more of that. The only things I can think of the students not using are software with material that is too complex for children as I think that it is important to expose all options to the children.
I find it interesting that you feel shy on Twitter. To me it has always seemed like a safe place to express ideas that I may not normally express in a classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think in my personal experience I find it more of a place to be more forward about my ideas that I may not feel fully comfortable expressing in person.
DeleteI really like your idea of closing the cap made from the digital divide by placing high performing technology students with low performing technology students.
ReplyDeleteI really like your ideas for integrating students separated by the digital divide--putting students together to help each other. Also, I completely agree with your efforts to teach typing skills; I never learned to type properly and have been disadvantaged because of this.
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